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Sending self-issued SAML sender-vouches tokens using WSS APIs with SSL transport protection

We can create self-issued SAML tokens with the sender-vouches subject confirmation method and use the JAX-WS programming model and Web Services Security APIs (WSS APIs) to send these tokens with web services request messages with transport protection.

This task assumes that you are familiar with the JAX-WS programming model, the WSS API interfaces, SAML concepts, SSL transport protection, and the use of policy sets to configure and administer web services settings.

We can build the web services client to use SAML tokens with the sender-vouches subject confirmation method in SOAP request messages using the Web Services Security programming interfaces. Using the programming interfaces in a web services client to specify the use of SAML tokens with sender-vouches subject confirmation using message protection at the transport level is an alternative approach to using policy sets and binding configurations.

We can create a self-issued SAML token and then send the SAML token in web services request messages from a web services client. The web services client application used in this task is a modified version of the client code contained in the JaxWSServicesSamples sample application that is available for download. Code examples from the sample are described in the procedure section, and a complete, ready-to-use web services client sample is provided in the Example section.

  1. Identify and obtain the web services client to use to invoke a web services provider.

    Use this client to insert SAML tokens in SOAP request messages programmatically using WSS APIs.

    The web services client used in this procedure is a modified version of the client code contained in the JaxWSServicesSamples web services sample application.

    To obtain and modify the sample web services client to use the Web Services Security API to pass SAML sender-vouches tokens in SOAP request messages programmatically using WSS APIs...

    1. Download the JaxWSServicesSamples sample application. The JaxWSServicesSamples sample is not installed by default.

    2. Obtain the JaxWSServicesSamples client code.

      For example purposes, this procedure uses a modified version of the Echo thin client sample included in the JaxWSServicesSamples sample. The web services Echo thin client sample file, SampleClient.java, is located in the src\SampleClientSei\src\com\ibm\was\wssample\sei\cli directory. The sample class file is included in the WSSampleClientSei.jar file.

      The JaxWSServicesSamples.ear enterprise application and supporting Java archives (JAR) files are located in the installableApps directory within the JaxWSServicesSamples sample application.

    3. Deploy the JaxWSServicesSamples.ear file onto the application server. After you deploy the JaxWSServicesSamples.ear file, you are ready to test the sample web services client code against the sample application.

    Instead of using the web services client sample, we can choose to add the code snippets to pass SAML tokens in SOAP request messages programmatically using WSS APIs in our own web services client application. The example in this procedure uses a JAX-WS Web services thin client; however, we can also use a managed client.

  2. Create a copy of either the SAML20 Bearer WSHTTPS default policy set or the SAML11 Bearer WSHTTPS default policy set.

    Provide a name for the copy of the policy set; for example SAML20 SenderVouches WSHTTPS or SAML11 SenderVouches WSHTTPS to help identify that this new policy set uses the sender-vouches confirmation method.

    No additional change is required to the new policy file because the subject confirmation method is specified in the binding configuration and not in the policy.

    The new policy file contains either SAMLToken20Bearer or the SAMLToken11Bearer as the policy identifiers. Change the identifier of the SAMLToken20Bearer policy to SAMLToken20SV or change the identifier of the SAMLToken11Bearer policy to SAMLToken11SV to specify a more descriptive name. Changing the identifier of the policy does not change the policy enforcement in any way; however, adding a descriptive identifier helps you to identify that these policy identifiers use the sender-vouches confirmation method.

    To view the settings of these policies, use the console to complete the following actions:

    1. Click Services > Policy sets > Application policy sets > policy_set_name.

    2. Click the WS-Security policy in the policies table.

    3. Click the Main policy link or the Bootstrap policy link.

    4. Click Request token policies from the Policy Details section.

  3. Attach the new SAML20 SenderVouches WSHTTPS or SAML11 SenderVouches WSHTTPS policy set to the web services provider application. Read about configuring client and provider bindings for the SAML sender-vouches token for details on attaching this policy set to the web services provider application.

  4. Create a copy of the SAML Bearer Provider sample default general bindings.

    1. For the new copy of the default policy set, provide a name that includes sender-vouches, such as SAML Sender-vouches provider binding.

    2. Change the value of the confirmationMethod property to sender-vouches in the token consumer configuration for the intended SAML token version. Read about configuring client and provider bindings for the SAML sender-vouches token for details on modifying the sender-vouches bindings to satisfy the vouching requirement.

  5. Assign the new provider binding to the JaxWSServicesSamples provider sample. Read about configuring client and provider bindings for the SAML sender-vouches for details on assigning the SAML sender-vouches provider sample, default general bindings to the web services provider application.

  6. Enable the web services provider SSL configuration attribute, clientAuthentication, to require X.509 client certificate authentication.

    The clientAuthentication attribute determines whether SSL client authentication is required. To specify the clientAuthentication attribute, use the console to complete the following actions:

    1. Click Security > SSL certificates and key management > Manage endpoint security configurations > {Inbound | Outbound} > SSL_configuration.

    2. Click the WC_defaulthost_secure link.

    3. Under Related Items, click the SSL_configurations link.

    4. Select the NodeDefaultSSLSettings resource.

    5. Click Quality of protection (QoP) settings link.

    6. Select Required from the menu to specify client authentication.

    Read about creating a secure sockets layer configuration to learn more about configuring the clientAuthentication attribute.

  7. In the web services client code, use the CallService() method to specify the properties file containing configuration parameters required to generate a self-issued SAML token.

    The CallService() method specifies configuration parameters required by the Web Services Security runtime environment to generate a self-issued SAMLToken.

    The following code snippet illustrates using the CallService() method to specify Web services security configuration parameters: 

    public static void main(String[] args) {
  SampleSamlSVClient sample = new SampleSamlSVClient();
  sample.CallService();
 }

/**
 * CallService Parms were already read. Now call the service proxy classes  * 
 */
void CallService() {
  String response = "ERROR!:";
  try {
    System.setProperty("java.security.auth.login.config", " profile_root/properties/wsjaas_client.conf ");
    // Initialize WSSFactory object 
    WSSFactory factory = WSSFactory.getInstance();

    // Initialize WSSGenerationContext
    WSSGenerationContext gencont = factory.newWSSGenerationContext();
    // Initialize SAML issuer configuration via custom properties     HashMap <Object, Object> customProps = new HashMap<Object,Object>();

    customProps.put(SamlConstants.ISSUER_URI_PROP, "example.com");
    customProps.put(SamlConstants.TTL_PROP, "3600000");
    customProps.put(SamlConstants.KS_PATH_PROP, "keystores/saml-provider.jceks");
    customProps.put(SamlConstants.KS_TYPE_PROP, "JCEKS");
    customProps.put(SamlConstants.KS_PW_PROP, "{xor}LCswLTovPiws");
    customProps.put(SamlConstants.KEY_ALIAS_PROP, "samlissuer");
    customProps.put(SamlConstants.KEY_NAME_PROP, "CN=SAMLIssuer, O=EXAMPLE");
    customProps.put(SamlConstants.KEY_PW_PROP, "{xor}NDomLz4sLA==");
    customProps.put(SamlConstants.TS_PATH_PROP, "keystores/saml-provider.jceks");
    customProps.put(SamlConstants.TS_TYPE_PROP, "JCEKS");
    customProps.put(SamlConstants.TS_PW_PROP, "{xor}LCswLTovPiws");  
    gencont.add(customProps); //Add custom properties

    Read about configuring a SAML token during token creation for more information about how we can specify configuration properties to control how the token is configured.

  8. Add the Thin Client for JAX-WS JAR file to the classpath. Add app_server_root/runtimes/com.ibm.jaxws.thinclient_8.5.0.jar file to the classpath. See the testing web services-enabled clients information for more information about adding this JAR file to the classpath.

  9. Create the self-issued SAML token. The following code snippet illustrates creating the SAML sender-vouches token: 
    // Create SAMLToken
HashMap<Object, Object> map = new HashMap<Object, Object>();
map.put(SamlConstants.CONFIRMATION_METHOD, "sender-vouches");
map.put(SamlConstants.TOKEN_TYPE, WSSConstants.SAML.SAML20_VALUE_TYPE);
map.put(SamlConstants.SAML_NAME_IDENTIFIER, "Alice");
map.put(SamlConstants.SIGNATURE_REQUIRED, "true");   
SAMLGenerateCallbackHandler callbackHandler = new SAMLGenerateCallbackHandler(map); 
SecurityToken samlToken = factory.newSecurityToken(SAMLToken.class, callbackHandler, "system.wss.generate.saml");
System.out.println("SAMLToken id = " + samlToken.getId());

    1. Use the WSSFactory newSecurityToken method to specify how to create the SAML token.

      Specify the following method to create the SAML token:

        WSSFactory newSecurityToken(SAMLToken.class, callbackHandler, "system.wss.generate.saml")

      Creating a SAML token requires the Java security permission wssapi.SAMLTokenFactory.newSAMLToken. Use the PolicyTool to add the following policy statement to the Java security policy file or the application client was.policy file:

        permission java.security.SecurityPermission "wssapi.SAMLTokenFactory.newSAMLToken

      The SAMLToken.class parameter specifies the type of security token to create.

      The callbackHandler object contains parameters that define the characteristics of the SAMLToken that you are creating. This object points to a SAMLGenerateCallbackHandler object that specifies the configuration parameters described in the following table:

      properties. This table describes the configuration parameters for the SAMLGenerateCallbackHandler object using the sender-vouches
      Property Description Required
      SamlConstants.CONFIRMATION_METHOD Specifies to use the sender-vouches confirmation method. Yes
      SamlConstants.TOKEN_TYPE

      Uses the constant value, WSSConstants.SAML.SAML20_VALUE_TYPE to specify a SAML 2.0 token type.

      When a web services client has policy set attachments, this property is not used by Web Services Security runtime environment. In this scenario, specify the token value type by the valueType attribute of the tokenGenerator binding configuration.

      The example in this procedure uses a SAML 2.0 token; however, we can also use the WSSConstants.SAML.SAML11_VALUE_TYPE value.

      		Yes
      SamlConstants.SAML_NAME_IDENTIFIER

      User identity such as myname as the NameID value in the SAMLToken.

      If we do not define this parameter when using the Thin Client for JAX-WS, the NameID value does not contain useful information.

      For a web services managed client, such a Java EE application making a web services request invocation, the Web Services Security runtime environment tries to extract user security information from the security context. Similarly, if we do not define this parameter for a managed web services client, the NameID value contains an UNAUTHENTICATED name identifier.

      This property is not used if the web services client has policy set attachments. Read about sending SAML tokens to learn more about sending the SAML token identity and attributes.

      		No
      SamlConstants.SIGNATURE_REQUIRED

      Whether the issuer is required to digitally sign the SAML token.

      A true value specifies that issuer is required to digitally sign the SAML token. Default.

      		No

      The system.wss.generate.saml parameter specifies the JAAS login module used to create the SAML token. Specify a JVM property to define a JAAS configuration file containing the required JAAS login configuration; for example:

        -Djava.security.auth.login.config= profile_root/properties/wsjaas_client.conf

      Alternatively, we can specify a JAAS login configuration file by setting a Java system property in the sample client code; for example:

        System.setProperty("java.security.auth.login.config", " profile_root/properties/wsjaas_client.conf ");

    2. Obtain the token identifier of the created SAML token.

      Use the following statement as a simple test for the SAML token created:

        System.out.println("SAMLToken id = " + samlToken.getId())


Results

You have created a self-issued SAML token with the sender-vouches confirmation method with transport protection and then sent this token with web services request messages using the JAX-WS programming model and WSS APIs.


Example

The following code sample is a complete, ready-to-use web services client application that demonstrates how to create a self-issued SAML sender-vouches token and send that SAML token in web services request messages. This sample code illustrates the procedure steps described previously. 

/**
 * The following source code is sample code created by IBM Corporation.  
 * This sample code is provided to you solely for the purpose of assisting you in the 
 * use of the technology.  The code is provided 'AS IS', without warranty or condition of 
 * any kind.  IBM shall not be liable for any damages arising out of the use of the 
 * sample code, even if IBM has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
 */
package com.ibm.was.wssample.sei.cli;

import com.ibm.was.wssample.sei.echo.EchoService12PortProxy;
import com.ibm.was.wssample.sei.echo.EchoStringInput;

import com.ibm.websphere.wssecurity.wssapi.WSSFactory;
import com.ibm.websphere.wssecurity.wssapi.WSSGenerationContext;
import com.ibm.websphere.wssecurity.wssapi.WSSConsumingContext;
import com.ibm.websphere.wssecurity.wssapi.WSSTimestamp;
import com.ibm.websphere.wssecurity.callbackhandler.SAMLGenerateCallbackHandler;
import com.ibm.websphere.wssecurity.wssapi.token.SAMLToken;
import com.ibm.websphere.wssecurity.wssapi.token.SecurityToken;
import com.ibm.wsspi.wssecurity.core.token.config.WSSConstants;
import com.ibm.wsspi.wssecurity.saml.config.SamlConstants;

import java.util.Map;
import java.util.HashMap;

import javax.xml.ws.BindingProvider;

public class SampleSamlSVClient {
  private String urlHost = "localhost";
  private String urlPort = "9081";
  private static final String CONTEXT_BASE = "/WSSampleSei/";
  private static final String ECHO_CONTEXT12 = CONTEXT_BASE+"EchoService12"; 
  private String message = "HELLO";
  private String uriString = "http://" + urlHost + ":" + urlPort;
  private String endpointURL = uriString + ECHO_CONTEXT12;
  private String input = message;

  /**
   * main()
   * 
   * see printusage() for command-line arguments    * 
   * @param args
   */
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    SampleSamlSVClient sample = new SampleSamlSVClient();
    sample.CallService();
  }

  /**
   * CallService Parms were already read. Now call the service proxy classes. 
   * 
   */
  void CallService() {
    String response = "ERROR!:";
    try {
      System.setProperty("java.security.auth.login.config", " profile_root/properties/wsjaas_client.conf ");

      // Initialize WSSFactory object       WSSFactory factory = WSSFactory.getInstance();
      // Initialize WSSGenerationContext
      WSSGenerationContext gencont = factory.newWSSGenerationContext();
      // Initialize SAML issuer configuration via custom properties      HashMap<Object, Object> customProps = new HashMap<Object,Object>();

      customProps.put(SamlConstants.ISSUER_URI_PROP, "example.com");
      customProps.put(SamlConstants.TTL_PROP, "3600000");
      customProps.put(SamlConstants.KS_PATH_PROP, "keystores/saml-provider.jceks");
      customProps.put(SamlConstants.KS_TYPE_PROP, "JCEKS");
      customProps.put(SamlConstants.KS_PW_PROP, "{xor}LCswLTovPiws");
      customProps.put(SamlConstants.KEY_ALIAS_PROP, "samlissuer");
      customProps.put(SamlConstants.KEY_NAME_PROP, "CN=SAMLIssuer, O=EXAMPLE");
      customProps.put(SamlConstants.KEY_PW_PROP, "{xor}NDomLz4sLA==");
      customProps.put(SamlConstants.TS_PATH_PROP, "keystores/saml-provider.jceks");
      customProps.put(SamlConstants.TS_TYPE_PROP, "JCEKS");
      customProps.put(SamlConstants.TS_PW_PROP, "{xor}LCswLTovPiws");  
      gencont.add(customProps); //Add custom properties 
      // Create SAMLToken
      HashMap<Object, Object> map = new HashMap<Object, Object>();
      map.put(SamlConstants.CONFIRMATION_METHOD, "sender-vouches");
      map.put(SamlConstants.TOKEN_TYPE, WSSConstants.SAML.SAML20_VALUE_TYPE);
      map.put(SamlConstants.SAML_NAME_IDENTIFIER, "Alice");
      map.put(SamlConstants.SIGNATURE_REQUIRED, "true");   
      SAMLGenerateCallbackHandler callbackHandler = new SAMLGenerateCallbackHandler(map);
      SecurityToken samlToken = factory.newSecurityToken(SAMLToken.class, callbackHandler, "system.wss.generate.saml");

      System.out.println("SAMLToken id = " + samlToken.getId());

      // Initialize web services client       EchoService12PortProxy echo = new EchoService12PortProxy();
      echo._getDescriptor().setEndpoint(endpointURL);

      // Configure SOAPAction properties       BindingProvider bp = (BindingProvider) (echo._getDescriptor().getProxy());
      Map<String, Object> requestContext = bp.getRequestContext();
      requestContext.put(BindingProvider.ENDPOINT_ADDRESS_PROPERTY, endpointURL);
      requestContext.put(BindingProvider.SOAPACTION_USE_PROPERTY, Boolean.TRUE);
      requestContext.put(BindingProvider.SOAPACTION_URI_PROPERTY, "echoOperation");

      gencont.add(samlToken);

      // Add timestamp
      WSSTimestamp timestamp = factory.newWSSTimestamp();
      gencont.add(timestamp);

      gencont.process(requestContext);

      // Build the input object       EchoStringInput echoParm = 
          new com.ibm.was.wssample.sei.echo.ObjectFactory().createEchoStringInput();
      echoParm.setEchoInput(input);
      System.out.println(">> CLIENT: SEI Echo to " + endpointURL);

      // Prepare to consume timestamp in response message       WSSConsumingContext concont = factory.newWSSConsumingContext();
      concont.add(WSSConsumingContext.TIMESTAMP);
      concont.process(requestContext);

      // Call the service       response = echo.echoOperation(echoParm).getEchoResponse();

      System.out.println(">> CLIENT: SEI Echo invocation complete.");
      System.out.println(">> CLIENT: SEI Echo response is: " + response);
    } catch (Exception e) {
      System.out.println(">> CLIENT: ERROR: SEI Echo EXCEPTION.");
      e.printStackTrace();
    }
  }
}

When this web services client application sample runs correctly, you receive messages like the following messages: 

SAMLToken id = _6CDDF0DBF91C044D211271166233407
Retrieving document at 'file: profile_root/.../wsdl/'.
>> CLIENT: SEI Echo to http://localhost:9443/WSSampleSei/EchoService12
>> CLIENT: SEI Echo invocation complete.
>> CLIENT: SEI Echo response is: SOAP12==>>HELLO


Related concepts

  • Access the samples
  • SAML concepts
  • SSL configurations


    Related tasks

  • Secure JAX-WS web services using message-level security
  • Configure client and provider bindings for the SAML sender-vouches token
  • Sending self-issued SAML sender-vouches tokens using WSS APIs with message level protection
  • Configure client and provider bindings for the SAML bearer token
  • Test web services-enabled clients
  • Create a Secure Sockets Layer configuration
  • Samples documentation

  • SAML Issuer Config Properties
  • Web Services Security APIs